Question

    Foreign visitors to the UK might be disappointed when they learn that not everyone there speaks like Harry Potter and his friends. Usually, there’s an assumption by many non-Brits that everyone in Britain speaks with what’s known as a Received Pronunciation (RP, 标准发音) accent, also called “the Queen’s English”. However, while many people do talk this way, most Britons speak in their own regional accents.

Scouse, Glaswegian and Black Country – from Liverpool, Glasgow and the West Midlands – are just three of the countless non-RP accents that British people speak with. There are even differences in accents between towns or cities just 30 kilometers apart. What is even more disappointing is that not speaking in a RP accent may mean a British person is judged and even treated differently in their everyday life.

In a 2015 study by The University of South Wales, videos of people reading a passage in three different UK accents were shown to a second group of people. The group then rated how intelligent they thought the readers sounded. The lowest-rated accent was Brummie, native to people from Birmingham, a city whose accent is considered working class.

However, there is no need to be disappointed though you are not speaking in an RP accent. In fact, doing the opposite may even give you strength.

Kong Seong-jae, 25, is an internet celebrity from Seoul. After studying in the UK, he picked up several regional accents. He’s now famous for his online videos, where he shows off the various accents he’s learned. “British people usually get really excited when I use some of their local dialect words, and they become much friendlier. I think it makes a bit of bond between local people and foreigners to speak in their local accent,” he said.

So if you’re working on perfecting your British accent, try to speak like someone from Liverpool, Glasgow or Birmingham. You may not sound like Harry Potter, but you are likely to make more friends.

1.What can we infer from paragraph 1?

A.Non-Brits usually hold that all Britons speak in a RP accent.

B.Only “the queen’s English” is accepted in the UK.

C.Foreign visitors are disappointed at their own spoken English.

D.Any Received Pronunciation around the world is also called “the Queen’s English”.

2.What do people think of the Brummie accent?

A.Favored by foreign visitors to the UK. B.Closest to the RP accent.

C.Smart and easy to understand. D.Spoken by people of lower class.

3.What does the underlined phrase “doing the opposite” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A.Speaking in a RP accent. B.Speaking in regional accents.

C.Speaking the Brummie accent. D.Speaking like Harry Potter.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A.A study about the most intelligent accent in Britain.

B.A comparison between different British accents.

C.How much British people value the RP accent.

D.The impact of regional accents on people’s lives.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇夹叙夹议的文章。这篇文章先是提到了大多数人想让自己的英语发音更地道，就去学习标准发音，它向读者提供了一个反其道而行之的建议，就是去学习英国的一些地方方言，这样你可能会交到更多的朋友。

1.细节理解题。答案定位在第一段Usually, there’s an assumption by many non-Brits that everyone in Britain speaks with what’s known as a Received Pronunciation (RP, 标准发音) accent, also called “the Queen’s English”.可知非英国人通常认为，所有的英国人都有标准口音，故选A。

2.细节理解题。答案定位在倒数第四段The lowest-rated accent was Brummie, native to people from Birmingham, a city whose accent is considered working class.可知人们认为下层社会的人说Brummie口音，故选D。

3.猜测词义题。上文However, there is no need to be disappointed though you are not speaking in an RP accent.说然而，尽管你没有使用标准发音，也没有必要感到失望。由此推断出In fact, doing the opposite may even give you strength.的意思是事实上，说话带有地方口音甚至会给你力量。下文举了一个实际例子说明，故选B。

4.主旨大意题。通过阅读文章，可知本文通过介绍英国标准音之外的一些方言使用情况，说明了地方口音对人们生活的影响，故选D。